N.N. MacDonald of Keppoch

Biography

The lady was born about 1390. She is stated, at her marriage to Angus Du Mackay to be a daughter of Alexander Carrach MacDonald of Keppoch, son of John, Lord of the Isles, a brother to Donald and niece to his first wife. She is noted in both the work by Mackenzie and that of Mackay (see sources).[1]

It is not clear whether dispensation, the marriage being within prohibited degrees, was obtained, thus giving rise to later claims on the family. It is from this marriage that the Aberach Mackays are descended.

Angus Du married, secondly, a daughter of Alexander Carrach MacDonald of Keppoch, son of John, Lord of the Isles, by his wife Margaret, daughter of King Robert II. In the Knock MS. history of col. pe rebus MacDonald we read as follows :—" Hugh Mackay of Strathnaver was taken, who married thereafter a daughter of Alexander MacDonald of Keppoch, of whom descended the race of Mackays called Slioc Ean Abrich? The historian here also has committed a mistake in naming Mackay of Strathnaver Hugh instead of Angus ; but he makes clear that such a marriage took place, and that one of the sons of this marriage was Ian Aberach, from whom descended the Aberach Mackays. We are thus particular because Sir Robert Gordon, who never misses an opportunity of besmirching the family of Mackay, dubs Ian Aberach " bastard," and this statement of his has been slavishly copied by other writers since. It ill becomes Sir Robert to sneer at bastards, for he narrowly escaped being one himself. When his father, the Earl of Sutherland, married his mother, the divorced wife of Bothwell, a dispensation from the Pope had to be obtained to make the marriage legitimate.1 By the canon law of Rome, which had force in Scotland until after the Reformation, marriage with a deceased wife's niece, or even with a cousin thrice removed, was within the forbidden degree of consanguinity ; and as the second wife of Angus Du was a niece of the first, the marriage came under the ban of the Romish Church. That is all. The only difference between Sir Robert Gordon and Ian Aberach is this : the former was made legitimate by a Papal dispensation, as documents extant amply prove, the latter may have been made legitimate in a similar way, but we cannot meantime lay our hands upon the documents.

The known issue of Angus Du was five sons : —

i. Neil Vass Mackay, by the first wife, and of whom an account follows.

ii. Ian Aberach, by the second wife. He became progenitor of the Aberachs. a branch of which we give a genealogical account later on.

iii. Roderick, whose son, Donald, is mentioned in a decreet of the Lords of Council against the Mackays of Strathnaver in 1501.

iv. William, who is designated Angus Duff's son, and whose son, John, is included in the above decreet.

v, Angus, who had a son John, whose son, Angus, is designated of [Spenziedale, Creich. This latter Angus granted sasine to his son-in-law, Roderick Murray, on the lands of Spanziedale and Bighouse, as is made clear in the title-deeds of the estate of Bighouse, of which a copy is preserved in the Blk. MS. It is more than likely that Murray contracted this marriage in order to fortify his family in the possession of Bighouse, which Angus Du obtained by charter in 1415, but which the king gave to the Murrays in 1430. We shall afterwards show that there was a flaw in the king's gift of 1430, or rather that it was unjust.

pg. 54-62

THE BOOK OF MACKAY BY ANGUS MACKAY, M.A. (St. Andrews University) Minister at Westerdale, Caithness EDINBURGH : NORMAN MACLEOD, -25 GEORGE IV. BRIDGE CANADA : EDWARD MACKAY, ST. PETER'S MANSE, MADOC, ONT. M DCCCC VI

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From who descend the Mackay of Aberach branch of Clan Mackay

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Angus Du married, secondly, a daughter of Alexander Carrach MacDonald of Keppoch, son of John, Lord of the Isles, a brother to Donald and niece to his first wife. It is not clear whether dispensation, the marriage being within prohibited degrees, was obtained, thus giving rise to later claims on the family. It is from this marriage that the Aberach Mackays are descended. The children from this marriage are:

Ian Aberach Mackay, must have been born very soon after 1415 as he will lead the clan at the Battle of Drumnacoub where his father is killed in 1433. Angus Mackay suggests he "not yet out of his teens" at the time of the battle. He married first, a daughter of the laird of Mackintosh, by whom he had two sons, William-Dow, who succeeded him, and John; and, secondly, a daughter of Hector Mackenzie of Garloch, brother of the laird of Kintail, by whom he had a son, Hector). The legends provide that he was fostered by maternal relatives in Lochaber, hence his name Ian Aberach (John the Lochaber man). On the night prior to the Battle of Drumnacoub his father ordered food for him to be placed in his room, along with a large boar-hound (hunting dog used against boars) to test his spirit. John killed the hound and ate his meal. His father is said to have exclaimed: "Dhearbh thu fuil do chridhe" - you have proved the blood of your heart. This, "Dearbh do chridhe" (prove thy heart) became the cry of the Aberach Mackay while " Bi treun" (be valiant - manu forti) was the cry of the Mackay of Strathnaver. Other Male Children

Angus Du Mackay had, at least three other children. The Scots Peerage[24] does not attempt to determine which mother, Angus Mackay[25] makes no attempt, in the summary, to determine a mother for any of the children. Robert Mackay does not distinguish. However, worth noting; It was Ian Aberach that led the clan during the imprisonment of Neil Vass, thus he was older than the other three boys. We also know that Ian Aberach was a son to the second wife and thus we can suppose that the three boys were born to the second wife or were illegitimate. The three boys were:

Roderick Mackay, whose son, Donald, is mentioned in a decreet of the Lords of Council against the Mackays of Strathnaver in 1501.
William Mackay, who is designated Angus Duff's son, and whose son, John, is included in the above decreet.
Angus Mackay, who had a son John, whose son, Angus, is designated of Spenziedale, Creich. This latter Angus granted sasine to his son-in-law, Roderick Murray, on the lands of Spanziedale and Bighouse, as is made clear in the title-deeds of the estate of Bighouse, of which a copy is preserved. It is more than likely that Murray contracted this marriage in order to fortify his family in the possession of Bighouse, which Angus Du obtained by charter in 1415 (the worthless Charter issued by Donald, Lord of the Isles to buy off the Mackay), but which the king gave to the Murrays in 1430. This latter issue, summarised incorrectly by Angus Mackay[26] provides insight into the family of Neilson and Murray. In 1415, when Donald MacDonald is stated to have provided this grant he was Lord of the Isles. The lands, under consideration, are in Sutherland (although Angus Mackay suggests he granted them as Earl of Ross this is impossible as the lands were not in Ross). For MacDonald to believe he had the authority to grant these lands he presumably had the view they were his to grant but he never owned lands in Sutherland and thus must have believed he held the status as overlord to one that did. The MacNeils were subordinate chiefs to the Lord of the Isles for their lands and it might thus be presumed that it was under this guise that MacDonald granted lands held by MacNeil to the Mackay and therefore starting the feud for the lands.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/MacDonald_of_Keppoch-2

Uncertainty regarding Name: At this early stage in the history of the families there is uncertainty and confusion regarding names. The two major source documents for this marriage: The book of Mackay, page 61, < Archive.Org > by Angus Mackay; and History of the Macdonalds and lords of the isles, page 480, < Archive.Org > by Alexander Mackenzie, provide that the lady that was the second wife to Angus Dubh Mackay was a daughter of Alexander Carrach MacDonald of Keppoch, a son to John, Lord of the Isles, and his second wife Margaret Stewart. Neither mention a first name. Sir James Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage; Vol. 5, page 160 < Archive.Org > offers no guidance either. Wikitree will hold her name as unknown unless definitive source material is found to provide her first name.

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